


The Title of a Long Forgotten Story

by SailorMinerva



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, Minor Character Death, Pre-Canon, Tape Recording, non-canon backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 14:26:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14107323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorMinerva/pseuds/SailorMinerva
Summary: This was a story that could have saved many people. A story only now found when it was far too late.A lost soul, who put everything on the line, so that other towns would not be like hers.So that no one would suffer Desert Bluffs fate.





	The Title of a Long Forgotten Story

 

..

…

…..

_*Garbled Radio Static perforates the seemingly endless silence*_

Hello? Is This thing even on?

_We are recording? Perfect! Thanks Vanessa! Your help has been greatly appreciated! Be sure to tell Kevin and Jade that I said thanks and that I will see them soon._

_*The voice on the recording clears her throat*_

Greetings to whoever is listening, wherever and whenever you are hearing this.

I will not tell you my name, for it will put both your life and mine in grave danger, however you can call me Q. I live in a small desert…. _Town?….City?_ I do not know quite what to call where I live, but I do know that it is a place called Desert Bluffs.

I am here today to tell you a story. Changes are happening in my world. In _our_ world. This story will be lost forever. It will be scattered by the cruel winds of history until it has dispersed and is forgotten. Unless someone else knows this tragic tale. I will tell this story to you, my listeners, and hope that I will not be the last teller of its tale and that you will learn its horrifying lesson.

I will tell this story to you, so that you may live free, my listeners.

.

..

….

Once upon a time, at the foot of a weak government, a community simply known as the Happy People lived. The Happy People smiled every day. Their government might have been weak, everyone knew it, but it gave them what they needed. It kept them happy. It kept them free. It gave them a reason to smile. Aside from the People of the Night, the Happy People did not interact with the outside world. They liked it this way. It kept their lives peaceful. That was enough for them.

Very few of the Happy People saw how cruel the outside world really was. The others had grown so accustomed to peace that it was as though they did not see the threats that lurked outside of the protective bubble that was their home. One day one of these dangers arrived into town. Even the Ones That Were Not Blind did not see how dangerous they were. In fact, at first, they did not see them at all.

 

The first that they saw of these Strange Folk were the yellow helicopters that they came in. But by then their peaceful world was about to crash down around them. They had no idea yet. The Strange Folk were hiding everywhere. Killing or enslaving all those who openly opposed them.  But no one noticed at first. They only took the ones that always went unseen. The ones that wouldn’t be missed. To the Happy People, the Strange Folk were just another corporation expanding their influence. A fine example of a thriving free market economy. So what if they had bought a few businesses? The Happy People didn’t care. They were not causing any harm, they did not disturb their peace. So, the Happy People, once again, turned a blind eye to them.

 

It was about four months later when the stable mountain (If they were real) that had been the government of the Happy People began to crumble and break. One bad decision after another left the Happy People helpless. People starved and were _dying_. What was going on?! Sure, their government was weak, but it was enough to support them! Nothing like this had ever happed before. For the first time in a long time, the Happy People were worried. Worried about their families, worried about what was going on, worried about their future.

 

Worried.

Worried.

_Worried._

The Ones Who Were Not Blind began to whisper that the Strange Folk were the ones to blame. That they had done something to our government and that was why we were suffering. The other Happy People told them that they were crazy and that they were here to help. The Strange Folk had given all of the citizens special pills to help ward off their hunger when the times got tough. They also bought invisible corn from the People of Night to give us food. The other Happy People slowly began to sing praises about the Strange Folk and pray to their odd and mysterious smiling god. The Ones Who Were Not Blind still did not trust the Strange Folk. They ate their corn with a frown, quietly, and left the pills unopened in their cupboards.

The thing that finally lifted the veil off the Happy People’s eyes was the killing of the President of the PTA.

On live television.

In a crowded room.

 In front of her kids.

By the Strange Folk.

She had been angered when the Strange Folk began to shut down some the schools. She heard why they did it. She heard too much. In the eyes of the Strange Folk, she had to be silenced. She was their example. She tried to save us. The Happy People could finally _see what the Strange Folk truly were._ By then it was too late. The Strange Folk had almost the entire local government under their control. Some of the Happy People had already fallen under the influence of the pills that the Strange Folk had given them, which were slow activating drugs to numb the mind.

Make it pliable.

Make it easy to manipulate.

 Easy to brainwash.

Easy to control.

 They would force the other Happy People to take their pills as many tried to throw them away, enraged. Influential figures slowly fell one by one. Some tried to run away.

They were all caught.

Others lost their sanity. **_Far too many died._** The Happy People still smiled as always, but now it was forced. Now it was mandatory.

You always needed to have a smile when your god was a smiling god.

 

That brings us to the end of our story. To today. The Strange Folk are the government now. They are everything now.  There are only a few People Who are not Blind left, but they will find us soon. It is only a matter of _time._ We may have lost, but this is a warning to the others out there.

**_DO NOT LET STREXCORP WIN._ **

We are not their slaves. We are not their puppets, dancing on invisible strings. **_WE DO NOT BELIEVE IN A SMILING GOD._** The tape to this recording has already been safely hidden as this recording finishes. Thankfully, Jade and Kevin got me a wireless recorder. They are thoughtful like that. They are not Blind. At least…. not yet. Even if Strex finds me, they will not find the tape. This story will be heard. Its lesson will be learned. And people everywhere will **_LIVE_** because of it.  I am leaving now. My cousin lives in Night vale and will give me shelter so long as I ask for it. And make the necessary blood sacrifice that is customary there. I will come back for the tape, or I will have Jade bring it when she flees to Night vale, and we will have their radio host play it, so that Night vale does not suffer the same fate as Desert Bluffs. I-

* _A door is heard to be broken down on the floor below followed by shouts of “Find Her!” *_

They have found me. I can’t escape this time. I am corned. Checkmate.  I wish you, my listeners, good fortune, luck, and hope that Strexcorp will not find you. Goodbye, and Farewell to-

_*A second door is broken, much closer this time, followed by yelling. A single Gunshot is heard, followed by static*_

**_Then Nothing_ **

.

…

…..

………

 

Several years later, a long-lost story finishes with a tragic end. A man who is neither tall, nor short; nor fat or thin wipes a tear from his eye. He speaks, “To the parents and loved ones of Q, The One Who Was Never Blind, we regret to inform you that she has been lost in the line of her own rebellion. She will be missed, but her and her story never forgotten and its lesson always taught through our own sins and regret of not learning it sooner. And to Q, wherever and whenever you are now, you did not die in vain.

**_WE HAVE WON._ **

…

…

 

As the voice wishes his listeners a goodnight, he mournfully ponders two things about the mysterious Q.

How well Tamika Flynn would have gotten along with Q, and that she would have made an **_Excellent_** radio host.

****

****

****

 

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to Night Vale is a production of Night Vale Presents  
> The Title of a Long Forgotten Story is my personal creation and may not be reposted without my personal consent  
> This fic was beta read by my friend Karma. Thank you so much for your support!  
> Today's Weather was 'Fire Coming out of the Monkey's Head' by Gorillaz  
> That song is what inspired this story and can be listened to here: https://youtu.be/OBabG0T2fwQ  
> Today's Proverb:  
> It is always a good idea not to judge a book by its cover, someone could have torn the original one off and put a new one on.


End file.
